it is monday morning. here is what is coming up on "early today." investigators begin rounding up evidence from sunday's deadly commuter rail crash near new york city. as we hear some of those on board. >> it seems like it was going pretty fast. i looked at my two -- i screamed at my two friends that were going over. i couldn't believe it. i was in shock. new details into the investigation into that fiery car crash that killed "fast & furious" paul walker. plus good news and bad news for retailers. a minnesota man pays the price for making it snow. and is this the future of home

delivery? "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, december 2nd. good morning. i'm veronica de la cruz. we're going to begin with that deadly train derailment in new york. this morning, the death toll stands at four with dozens injured some still in critical condition. all of this as investigators try to being together what caused the train to jump the tracks. nbc's jay gray has the latest. >> reporter: this morning, investigators continue to work through the wreckage of a metro north commuter train in the bronx. >> our mission is to understand not just what happened but how it happened. >> reporter: passengers say they sensed a problem as the train rumbled through the sharp turn at hudson river. about 20 minutes before the last stop at grand central station. >> it was going fast. it was flying. >> reporter: out of control and off the tracks. >> there were people screaming,

crying out for god, asking for families. >> reporter: four people killed, more than 60 injured. >> i hit the window, all the chairs came out. a woman hit me. >> reporter: survivors described the moment of impact. >> as we were going over, i looked at my two -- i screamed. i screamed at my two friends that going over. >> reporter: local state and federal investigators led by the national transportation safety board continue to pore over the scene. much of the focus on the two cars on their side, inches from the water. the complete investigation is expected to take a week to ten days. jay gray, nbc news, new york. >> and we're also learning more about the victims. one, a member of the nbc family. 58-year-old jim lovell was an auto tech on "today" show. he was on his way to help set up the christmas tree at rockefeller center. in a statement don nash called him one of the nicest guys ever

met. a tragic end for a hollywood hero of speed. investigators eye tryings to figure out what caused "fast & furious" paul walker. they say speed was a factor. he was a customer in a red porsche driven in valencia, california. walker had just attended a charity event for his own disaster relief organization to benefit the victims of the typhoon in philippines. >> people are without homes, without water, it's a heavy, heavy time. right now, it's a race for relief. the needs are going to be extensive for a long period of time. >> walker's co-stars and fan alike after tyree gibson broke down in tears.

and van diesel saying brother i'll miss you very much. walker later starred in movies like pleasantville and into the blue. with the blockbuster "fast & furious" catapulting him into worldwide fame when it began in 2001. at the time of his death he was working on the series' latest installment due out. but his untimely death leaves the film uncertain. his next film "hours" is due out in two weeks. walker is survived by his 15-year-old daughter meadow. now to the latest on the problem-plagued obama care website. the site has more than tripled with 400 bugs gone. the president assess healthcare.gov now works for the vast mortgage of applicants. applicants must enroll for coverage starting as soon as the new year. check this out. a man in minnesota made it snow

on some lucky shoppers at the mall of america as let it snow from a tree down below. the man threw 1,000 one-dollar bills off the mall's fourth floor. he said he had a rough year and he just wanted to make people happy on black friday. unfortunately, police weren't too happy with the man's stunt as they charged him with disorderly conduct. the man argued, quote, i don't see how holiday cheer is disorderly conduct. some hunters in north dakota caught a glimpse of this. a spinning disk of ice about 50 feet in diameter in the middle of the sheyenne river trying to say the ice disk was likely formed by cold dense air and an eddy in the river. bill karins told us -- how did that happen. >> it's like crop circles. >> don't you think? i'm looking at this, how in earth? >> yeah, i guess you see rivers and streams, you know, a little

side current, you can get an eddy spinning around. i don't know. that's how it happens. >> do you stand on that? don't try this at home. good morning, everyone. temperatures have warmed up. here we go in december, all of a sudden now it's much warmer now than it was back in november. so as you start this december, we wait and see for who is going to get the big snowstorms. it looks like we have one heavy for the northern rockies and northern plains. right now, just a little leftover stuff, kind of freezing ice and freezing rain in northern north dakota and northern minnesota. we have a winter storm warning in great falls. winter storm watches for all of north dakota and areas of eastern montana. as far as whose going to get a lot of snow, the ski resorts are loving this forecast. colorado mountain, utah, yellowstone, northern rockies, all the way to the northern plains. those are the areas that are going to get the snow from the storm. i mentioned how warm it is.

not many people below freezing. enjoy your start to december. that's your national forecast. now here's a look at weather outside your window. so today with all of that mild air headed to the east, there's also a lot of clouds and fog out there, too. especially areas with melting snow out there. be careful, give yourself a little extra time if you're in one of those foggy spots. so it always happens when there's a big cold storm in the west. the east is warmer. that's the way that first week of december will be. >> not too bad. have you started your christmas shopping? >> i have. well ahead of schedule for me. >> very nice. online? >> both. today could be the day, could it be the biggest cyber monday of all times? we're going to have a live report. plus, this adorable little gal finally has a name. we're going to tell you what it is after this break. stay tuned.

welcome back. some stories making news. tragedy struck out in kansas

city arrowhead stadium. police say one person died, three people are being questioned after an altercation during a chiefs/broncos game. a fight broke out. the death is being treat as a homicide. prince harry is officially on his way to the south pole while staying in a toasty palace may seem much more appealing, harry has decided to compete in a wounded warrior race consisting of a 13-mile trek through subfreezing temperatures. harry says, quote, obviously the uk will win. a new poll by the associated press say only a third of americans say they trust others. a record low since the poll was first conducted in 1972. thailand's capital was rocked over the weekend as thousands took to the streets seeking the ousting the prime minister. they threw molotov cocktails at police. at least four people were

killed. a maryland man was charged with fraud after claiming he slipped on a banana peel in a washington metro station. the man will slip on a banana, but as the surveillance video shows, he dropped the peel there himself. and the 100-day panda cub at the national zoo is officially called bao bao which means "precious." analysts say cyber monday deals are just as good or better as black friday which just a distant memory at this point. nbc's sarah dallof joins us live from phoenix. sarah, what kinds of deals are we talking? >> reporter: well, deals all across the board, veronica, minus the chaos of black monday. here at amazon, they're releasing new deals every ten minutes to keep cybershoppers coming back. those deals include deals on

kindles, clothes, movies, all the hot items. last year, amazon.com, customers ordered 26.5 million things during cyber monday. that's more than 300 a second. this year, they expect it to be even bigger. overall, cyber monday this year expected to be the largest yet. an estimated $2 billion in sales. 130 million people say they will shop. and veronica, the majority are waking up and getting right to work. they say they will shop in the early morning hours. back to you. >> and you can even use your phone these days. incredible. thanks, sarah. the markets start the month of december on a roll with an eight-week winning streak. the early start to black friday holiday shopping through more people, 141 million into stores for the four-day weekend. the national retail federation says total spending is expected to fall for the first time ever

with almost a 3% drama of over $57 billion. the cost of the items menged in the 12 days of christmas carol. $651 this year. an increase of 6.9%. two of the gifts that have the biggest price hikes, nine ladies dancing cost over $3500 for each performance. and ten lords a leaping has jumped to more than 5200 bucks. check this out, speaking of amazon, amazon has posted a video for their plan to use drones to deliver packages in customers' homes in 30 minutes or less. right now, small drones are not permitted to fly in u.s. airspace without special permission. but amazon hopes to start using them by 2015. wow. just ahead, an exciting weekend in football. we're going to have your college and nfl highlights. and in hockey a teddy bear takeover on the ice. we're going to tell you why next.

and now let's get the latest in sports from my friend betty nguyen. good morning. >> let's start with sunday night's nfl game. the nfc east showdown between the redskins and giants. the giants made a quick comeback to tie it up 14-14. before the half. in the second half, the giants held off the redskins scoring ten points in the fourth quarter

winning the game 24-17. the eagles, they held off the cardinals, they're now second in the nfc east ooet beating arizona 24-21. in the vikings/bears game. coderelle patterson celebrates with an official high five. check that out. the vikings win in overtime, 23-20. in their second meeting the broncos pulled out a close win with the chiefs with kansas city's miles davis with this explosive 108-yard touchdown run. after the kickoff in the second quarter, broncos win 35-28. denver leads the afc west. and the patriots leading the afc east squeakeded a win over the texans. the game was tied in the fourth when new england's steven gostkowski nailed the field goal for the win 34-21. embattled toronto mayor rob ford was caught at the

bills/dolphins game wearing a jersey eating wings. one fan tweeted that ford stole his seat. don't worry, he got it back. the bills, though, lost, 34-31. on to the miracle iron bowl finish that stunned alabama. tide 28-28, seconded left in the game, alabama's field goal goes short. chris davis saves the day, he hauls in the end zone to an end zone touchdown. shocker. big game between big ten heated rivals michigan and ohio state. during the second, a monster brawl sended with three players ejected. to win it with just seconds left. intercepted, buckeyes win 42-41. in the bcs, auburn knocked alabama down to the fourth. the seminoles are number one in the ap poll for the first time since 2000. ohio state moves to second,

auburn is third and mizzou hangs on to fifth. olympic skier lindsay von has decided to delay knee surgery to train and compete in the sochi olympics. best of luck to her. and in hockey the 20-year teddy because toss tradition was in full swing. of course, check it out. that started the launch of over 25,000 stuffed bears that flew on to the ice. the bears are donated to charity for children. that is quite a sight. can you imagine a kid being in the midst of all of that, going, wait a second, i want one of those. >> that's almost dangerous. >> you think? >> it's all for a good cause. just ahead, fire and ice tess box office and pretty big thanksgiving records get shattered. we're going to have details next.

welcome back on this monday morning. hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. the weather has really turned. we were so cold last week, and now it's warmed up. look at the 70s and 80s across the deep south. all the stormy weather this week is going to be from the northern plain, northwest, into the northern rockies. that's where we're going to see if you're at higher elevations significant snow. and very air mass behind it. minneapolis, look at the temperatures, by thursday and friday, a high of 4. >> 4, how does that happen? >> 4, that's it.

>> that's no joke. entertainment news you the thanksgiving weekend was the best ever for the box office bringing in $294 million. "hunger games" stayed add numbe one $112 million. disney's "frozen" second. >> since "the lion king." rounding out the top five, the dark world, the best man holiday and homefront. and "fifty shades of grey" are filming. michael jordan and eve vet prieto are expected but jordan has three grown children from a marriage. lady gaga with her all-star cast. here's a clip. ♪

>> ahh, the hollywood dip, gotta love it. after last year safety video featuring the lord of the rings characters, air new zealand has posted a lifesize drawing of a frog. and the kardashians have their holiday card for 2013. noticeably miss, all the kardashian daughters, significant others and baby north west. you have seen the kanye west mu music video, the new one? >> no. >> do you understand it? >> we're not mature enough. art taste. >> thanks, bill. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today." we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc.

right now on "news 4 today" new yorkers are bracing for a tough commute as investigators try to figure out why a commuter train jumped the tracks. what we're learning this morning. plus, the redskins are officially turning the page on the 2013 after a tough loss to the giants. the con fausing call on the field that left the team frustrated. >> good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm richard jordan in for aaron. it is monday, teasedecember 2. waking up to 45 degrees. weigh haven't seen a temperature

that warm. >> chuck, good morning you to you. >> good morning, richard and eun. most of the suburbs are back in the 30s. 37 degrees in bristow. 41 in annapolis. 42 downtown. more clouds than anything else. highs later on this afternoon up a degree or so of average. that will feel warm compared to the cold stretch we've been in. a whole lot in the way of cloud cover. there may be a little sprinkle to worry about tomorrow. for now we're off to a cloudy start, temperatures in the 30s to near 40s. back to you. >> thank you, chuck. it is now 4:27. breaking news right now, megan

mcgrath arrived on the scene of a water main break that could interfere with the morning commute. what's going on out there? >> they shut off the water so that's progress. they're going to be out here digging the pipe and making the repairs here for hours. this is a major intersection, benning road. you can see all of the lanes in both directions are cold. i'm told this is a 12 inof water main that rupp taurd early this morning. you can see it's undermined some of the roadway. we have a lot of mud on the surface. they have to dig the pape up and make a the repair. i'm told this is going to be a problem throughout the morning rush hour and into the afternoon.

they are taking up the manhole. they can start the digging process. folks who use the intersection, it it will be a mess for quite some time this morning. with more on traffic over to it'll. good morning, megan. you're right. still pretty quiet. if you are traveling i-95, if that's your commute, you are about to leave the house, a nice, easy trip. heading mbd to the beltway, travel lanes are open. you can see northbound and southbound no incidents to report. construction on i-95. the beltway is clear as well. i'm back at 4:30. eun, over to you. >> we'll see you then. we have a reminder as you get ready to leave for work. new parking rules ahong the street car line in northeast washington.

you you have to park inside the white lines along the curb on "h" street. police are ticketing violators up to $100. crews are testing the wires and tracks but not everything is going smoothly. it took about an hour for a test truck to travel five blocks because cars were blocking the way. in the day ahead your favorite food truck will park in the same spot for up to 30 days in the district. d.c. regulators are rolling out a new parking reserve system. 17th street by fair fwut square and 12th street by metro center. every month a new lottery will determine where they can park. this is b.b. smith offering a $1,000 reward to anyone with informn